The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos

Booklist
June 1, 2020

Stories of Jewish women who resisted the Nazi regime have been woefully neglected in modern history. Their truths were overshadowed by male counterparts, censored, criticised, and occasionally regarded as outright false. Batalion (White Walls, 2016) sheds light on courageous women who came face-to-face with evil and refused to back down. She focuses on a group of female resistance fighters in Polish ghettos, where even camaraderie could be considered a punishable act of defiance. They smuggled guns inside loaves of bread, disguised themselves as Poles, established soup kitchens for ghetto orphans, arranged hiding places for fellow Jews, and fought fervently in ghetto uprisings. Many were caught and subjected to extreme brutality in concentration camps, where they continued to resist before being executed. Those who survived were haunted by guilt and subjected to public scrutiny. Batalion spent years researching, pouring over memoirs and testimonies, and even meeting with the women’s children. The result is a harrowing record of the resiliency of the human spirit and the power of female friendship. An important work, sure to become part of the WWII canon.